


to the many more times we have

by asdf8975



Category: IZONE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28509417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asdf8975/pseuds/asdf8975
Summary: "Yah, what do you want? It's not 2021 yet. I thought I told you not to phone me until the new year.""Is this how you're always going to greet me? When will you greet me like how you greet Hyewon-unnie?”She briefly thought about how she always opened her conversation with Hyewon with Honey and nearly let out a snicker.  “Hyewon-unnie doesn’t even call unless she’s angry, please.”"Fair. Last time she called me it was because she thought I ate the slice of cake she had been saving.  When I told her ‘it was Eunbi-unnie’, she immediately stopped fuming." She could hear the exasperation in Minjoo's tone and even imagined the shake of her head. "Roommates."Yuri smirked a little, ignoring gnaw from her heart as she replied, “You’re like that with Yujinie.”"And you're like that with Nako."-----They still had a lifetime ahead of them, even if it didn't look like it.
Relationships: Jo Yuri/Kim Minju
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	to the many more times we have

Yuri remembered the year that she “officially” became an adult.

* * *

**[IZONE** **❤️** **]**

**eunbi:** happy new year, kids **❤️**

 **eunbi:** thank you for everything this past year, truly.

 **eunbi:** i know everything is uncertain right now, but we will make it.

 **wonyoung:** happy new year, unnies!

 **yujin:** don't go sentimental on us, unnie. we're going to be together this year and many more still.

 **hyewon:** stop

 **hyewon:** you're going to make mom cry

 **yena:** she's probably crying already ngl

 **eunbi:** you're both disowned

 **yena:** WOW, you can't disown dad, mom.

 **chaewon:** that's called a _divorce_

 **minjoo:** happy new year, everyone!

 **minjoo:** we're officially adults now 😊

 **yujin:** oh!

 **yujin:** happy birthday, minjoo-unnie, you oldie. 😊

 **minjoo:** e-excuse me...?

 **yuri:** if minjoo is old, what is eunbi-unnie.

 **eunbi:** you're all disowned, all of you.

 **nako:** wow, i turned 20 just to be disowned.

 **nako:** i'm an independent woman anyways 😤

 **sakura:** says the one who sleeps with the light on

 **nako:** okay wait.

 **wonyoung:** was that why the light was on last time?

 **nako:** i can explain.

 **yena:** nako's a baby, end of explanation.

 **nako:** i'm not a baby **—**

 **yena:** but someone who’s not **—** Minjoo-ya! come drinking with chaewonie and i

 **eunbi:** drinking **—**

 **yuri:** you do realize that three of us also turned twenty, unnie.

 **yena:** nako and tomi are babies and we know you'll just sleep, yuri-ya

 **hitomi:** i _breathed_ **—**

 **eunbi:** no one is drinking **—**

The conversation exploded into chaos, debates coming from every corner and vicious text fights about whether drinking, disowning, divorces, and _old shaming_ was allowed. The aftermath had to be cleaned up by Mother (Chaeyeon) Lee who came back from her English lessons to more than 500 messages in the group chat. While it was chaotic, Yuri wouldn’t want it any other way, especially with this family.

She smiled fondly at the chat, staring at the newly _2020_ year that crept up on them.

There was still time to indulge in this chaos. _There was still time, even if it didn’t look like it._

* * *

Yuri had a new appreciation for the idol life after their future was (somewhat) secured and they were all back on their feet with a solid road ahead. She treasured each and every moment, pushing herself forward and to new heights while holding the hands of her eleven other members. She couldn’t stop thinking about time, about how it was slowly ticking down, and that being together was going to just vanish in a blink of an eye one day. 

She was thankful that those thoughts were pushed away when they drowned in practice, performances, recordings, photoshoots—literally everything that they were stripped of for three months. But in the brief moments where they had a break, it somehow seeped into her mind, and she would desperately search for a cure (or a distraction). She played games with Yena and Nako, chased Hyewon around under the disguise of trying to be affectionate, and even argued with Minjoo.

(And they argued, _a lot_. Eunbi tried to hold an intervention one day but she was dragged away by Yena and Chaewon, who explained that the _young adults_ needed to fight it out—it was a part of life without a Mother hen.) 

“You sound like you’re running yourself to the ground.”

Sian pointed out, stirring her drink after Yuri finished recapping what she had been doing with the group and in her free time. She graciously sipped her bubble tea, the liquid rehydrating her parched throat. Sian’s gaze went over to Gyuri, who nodded in agreement.

“You do realize you have time, right?” Gyuri pointed out, stirring her drink. “They’re not going to vanish _tomorrow_.”

“Time doesn’t stop, Unnie.” Yuri replied, a bit more sharply than she intended. “I… I want to spend every moment with them.”

“Yeah but, I mean...” Gyuri glanced over at Sian, searching for help. Sian raised a brow and shook her head with a small laugh.  
  
“You have a lifetime ahead of you, Yuri.” She filled in the words for Gyuri. “We all do. We’re still young. I’m still trying to debut.”

“Say that for yourself, Sian. I’m the _oldest here_ —”

Yuri remained silent, the words reminding her of the beginning of the year, when even though they all teetered on the line of uncertainty, they would try to comfort each other, reassuring that there would be plenty more _New Years chaos_ in the future. She smiled, before falling into teasing Gyuri who was _still_ complaining about her age.

(She sounded so much like Eunbi-unnie, gosh.)

* * *

Just like that, 2020 was about to disappear in a blink of an eye.

Things were just _different_ the past year. Not just for herself, but for the _entire_ world. But Yuri, as she learned from the beginning of the year, was to be appreciative of what was given to her. To be appreciative of all the moments shared not just with her members, but with the staff who took care of them, the fans who constantly filled her with strength, and her family and friends who stayed with her even through the darkest times.

 _Because even though these moments might disappear tomorrow, there’s still time to make more_.

* * *

Yuri liked to spend her New Years quietly.

When she was younger, she would cuddle up with Gamja (because her damn cat Yoona never stayed put) on the couch and countdown with her Sister. Sometimes, she fell asleep before midnight, but a lot of times they would stay up, singing their favourite songs until their parents sent them to bed.

And then she became a trainee, which limited her time at home. Her warm days on the couch, her impromptu karaoke sessions with her Sister disappeared into practicing dance steps or perfecting techniques that made her sing better in desolate training rooms until the peak of dawn. 

But after entering IZ*ONE, after going through _everything_ with her members, after nearly running herself thin until she couldn’t function anymore in a desperation to forget, she learned the importance of the lazy days buried in warmth.

With the pandemic going around the world, promotions were cut short and awards shows were all pre-recorded, so their agency allowed the girls to rest and spend the holidays however they liked (with taking extra precaution, of course). Yuri returned to Busan after their prerecording for Gayo Daejejeon.

( _"Tell big Chae that 'Ryeong is planning to set off fireworks at JYPE."_

Ryujin half-whispered to Yuri as they stood outside of the dressing room where their group was assigned to prepare before the recording. Ryujin waited for Yeji while she was waiting for Minjoo, who took forever to finish changing out of her outfit. _"I think she's invited."_

 _"I think Chaeyeon-unnie is going back home."_ Yuri said, overhearing Chaeyeon's conversation with Eunbi when Eunbi was checking everyone's plans that night. _"But really? Fireworks? Am I going to see news of JYPE up in flames on Twitter at midnight?"_

A grin broke out on Ryujin's face, but she shook her head. _"Don't say that, Yuri. Because then 'Ryeong will actually get cold feet and this will give Yuna a chance. And we know Yuna will actually set the building on fire. There's a reason why Yeji and 'Ryeong don't let her into the kitchen."_

Yuri felt she was hiding something, she thought Chaeryeong mentioned Ryujin was on a timed banned from the kitchen, but it wasn’t the time or place to bring it up. _"I'll mention it to her."_

 _"Okay, cool. Thanks. Also, don't tell her 'Ryeong is going to set off fireworks because she might actually call Mr. Jin-young Park on us and then we're actually screwed."_ Ryujin hugged her playfully, glancing up and waving as Yeji came out from the dressing room. _“See you later, Yuri. Happy New Year!”_

Yuri raised a confused brow, did Ryujin want her to tell Chaeyeon that her younger sister was about to set her previous company up in flames or not? She soon shook her head at the ridiculous thought, JYP idols had some weird sense of humour. It explained Chaeyeon’s humour, which was only understood by Hyewon in another phenomenon that Yuri really didn’t want to wrap her head around. 

_"Did Ryujin and Yeji just leave?”_

Yuri turned around, facing Minjoo, who wasn’t in black leather clothing and fishnets, but huddled in her large, padded jacket with her coloured muffler wrapped loosely around her neck. She approached Yuri with a smile, unwrapping one side of the muffler and holding it out to her so they could share the warmth together.

_They were allowed to have moments like this, despite all the fighting they do on camera._

But Yuri knew she couldn’t.

Instead, she accepted the fabric and stepped closer to the taller member, wrapping it snuggly around Minjoo’s neck instead. Minjoo blinked in surprise, _“Yuri?”_

 _"Sorry, I'm not coming home tonight."_ A furrowed brow that made Yuri smile apologetically. _"I'm going back to Busan."_ She waited for Minjoo's huff and her usual quip about how she wanted to go to Busan and her demand to take her so she could eat Yuri’s Mother's cooking again.

_"Oh."_

It was Yuri's turn to blink, what kind of reaction was _that_?

Minjoo pulled gently at the muffler, sliding it slightly over her masked face. _"I see... I, well."_ She fumbled with the edges of the fabric, playing with the colourful knitted fibers. _"Yujinie wanted to do a V Live today and asked me to join her and then we were going to sit down and eat chicken with Kkura-unnie, Tomi, and Nako in Chaeyeon-unnie's dorm and watch Daejejeon."_

Oh.

Something gnawed at Yuri surprisingly, that she shifted her eyes so Minjoo wouldn’t notice her strange behaviour.

Minjoo _never_ said no to Yujin, so she's not surprised at the mention of the _JinJoo_ V Live. Now that she thought about it, Minjoo had a hard time saying no to her members, except for _her_ —

 _"I thought it would be, um, nice if we could... watch together, to see all our practice in this one performance."_ There's something in Minjoo's tone that Yuri couldn't quite grasp. She could only think of _disappointment_ , but it didn't feel quite like it. What she did know was that she didn’t like to hear Minjoo like _that_. So, Yuri did what she did best when it involved Minjoo.

 _“We just finished recording and watching it already.”_ She pointed out with a small grin. Minjoo huffed, shoving her lightly as they walked side-by-side to the exit.

“ _It’s not the same! Didn’t you feel the same way when you went on King of Masked Singer?”_

_“I’m pretty sure you and Eunbi-unnie re-watched more times than I did—”_

A breathless laugh escaped Yuri’s lips when Minjoo shoved her again. She saw the redness creep to the tips of Minjoo’s ears as she muttered _shut up_.

_This was more like it._

Feeling sorry, she reached out, grabbing Minjoo’s hand and rubbed small circles. _“I’ll make you cookies again, as an apology.”_

Minjoo’s fingers interlaced with hers, but she felt the grip loosen slightly. _“Cookies…?”_

 _"You liked the ones I baked, remember?"_ Yuri narrowed her eyes, squinting them suspiciously at Minjoo. She read what Minjoo said about her cookies on mail—she read what they _all_ said about her cookies on mail. Her chest swelled with pride and appreciation for the kind words from her members. It eventually led to her shedding a tear or two (or three, Yuri was kind of a cry baby).

Minjoo shook her head, her fingers tightening against hers as she smiled. _“Okay, fine. But we’re making it together, so you don’t make Yena-unnie some weird tomato cookie or burnt cookies for Hyewon-unnie.”_

 _“They weren’t burnt, gosh, why are both of you chasing me about that.”_ Yuri huffed. _“And fine, as long as you don’t make those ugly macarons again.”_

_"What?! That was Chaewon-unnie, not me!"_

_"I think Chaewon-unnie would disagree."_

With the way that Minjoo sighed but smiled exasperatedly, Yuri sensed the disappointed-like feeling disappearing from her. Even though it cost another promise among her stacks of promises she had yet to fulfill for Minjoo, she was okay with that.

_They had a lifetime to fulfill them._

On the long ride home to Busan, she saved a bunch of cookie recipes on her phone, determined to make even better ones.)

Yuri spent her New Years in her room, with Gamja curled up on her lap. She stared at the countdown timer at the corner of her screen, while singing to the playlist she put together of all her favourite songs from that year. Her parents were off to bed already, saying something about old age (she wanted to text Eunbi and Gyuri some age jokes, but refrained from doing so), and her Sister was out with her friends (at a reasonable distance). It left her and Gamja (and Yoona when she decided to come into her room), waiting for 2020 to close and 2021 to open its doors.

Her phone went off before she could put on one more song to close 2020. Gamja raised his head questionably at her and Yuri shrugged, she was as clueless as him. She picked up the phone, _IZ*ONE Kim Minjoo-ssi_ lit up on her screen. She raised a brow and answered the call, "Yah, what do you want? It's not 2021 yet. I thought I told you not to phone me until the new year."

_"Is this how you're always going to greet me? When will you greet me like how you greet Hyewon-unnie?”_

She briefly thought about how she always opened her conversation with Hyewon with _Honey_ and nearly let out a snicker. “Hyewon-unnie doesn’t even call unless she’s angry, _please_.” 

_"Fair. Last time she called me it was because she thought I ate the slice of cake she had been saving. When I told her ‘it was Eunbi-unnie’, she immediately stopped fuming."_ She could hear the exasperation in Minjoo's tone and even imagined the shake of her head. _"Roommates."_

Yuri smirked a little, ignoring gnaw from her heart as she replied, “You’re like that with Yujinie.”

_"And you're like that with Nako."_

Yuri clicked her tongue, of _course_ she would use Yako against her. A pleasant hum came from the other line, satisfied with her silence. With a defeated sigh, she finally asked, “Yes, Angel Kim Minjoo-ssi, what promise would you like today?”

 _"Flattery doesn't suit you, Yuri."_ Yuri could almost hear the smugness in Minjoo’s tone, and idly thought she would take that over disappointed and hurt Minjoo. “ _You weren't answering my texts earlier, so I called you once we finished the dishes."_

Not believing her, Yuri pulled her phone briefly away and _oh_ , there were ten messages from _IZ*ONE Kim Minjoo-ssi_ on KKT. She pressed it against her ear again, smile apologetic. "Must've fell asleep."

_"Before midnight? Really? Wait, that actually suits you. Yeah, that's definitely you."_

Yuri was tempted to hang up on Minjoo. Did Minjoo really call her to terrorize her just before the end of the year? Their conversation was going to go well over midnight if Minjoo didn’t get to her point.

_"I was going to ask; did you watch it?"_

_Gayo Daejejeon_.

Yuri’s eyes flickered over to a tab she had opened, the _reflection_ performance sitting there, waiting to be played _again_.

"Yeah? My parents were excited when I told them we were doing a special stage. My Mom teared up, saying _‘her little MinMin was growing up’_. She even recorded the performance on her phone and sent it to our relatives.”

Minjoo coughed, but Yuri could easily tell she was flustered.

_"S-She said that about our Adult Ceremony performance!"_

"Let’s be honest, she was more taken by Yako and Hii not being kids anymore."

There's a brief pause on the other line, making Yuri smile triumphantly again, knowing she was the victor in their little verbal battles they constantly had. "You were great, Min.”

"..."

Silence suddenly filled the conversation, making Yuri check for disconnection until a sniff caught her attention. She quickly brought her phone back, “Min?” 

_"S-Sorry, I, I was just so worried and relieved."_ She could hear Minjoo clearing her throat and shuffling. _"I'm so, so happy to hear that from you."_

Yuri's brow furrowed, but she smiled and shook her head (not like Minjoo could see). "You're a dummy." She chided lightly, "You're so, so hardworking, Min. We spent countless of hours after group practice was finished just to get the timing and synchronization perfectly. There's no way you messed up. I know that better than anyone."

The memories of staying way after group practice was over flickered in her mind. Minjoo always hung back and Yuri stuck to her, knowing they needed each other for the performance to go well. Even during their off-days, Yuri found Minjoo in the training room, going over each move meticulously.

She knew how hard Minjoo worked for this.

A soft, melodic laugh slowly filled the tense conversation.

_"You do. You do know that better than anyone."_

Yuri felt a tightness in her chest and heat rise up her neck all the way to her ears. The unexpected praise pumped her heart rather quickly. Gamja noticed her change in demeanor and nudged her chin with a scoff. She grunted, patting his head down and away from her. “So— _so,_ don’t worry. Even if we couldn’t show everything, there’s still time left.”

( _“You have a lifetime ahead of you, Yuri.”_ )

Comforting words from her friends throughout the year echoed in the chambers of her mind, and she wanted to use them to comfort Minjoo. Her eyes moved to the corner of her screen, noticing the clock ticking ever so close to midnight. _They actually were going to go over—_

“Is that all? It’s almost midnight.”

_“Wait, really? What time is it—”_

A shriek made her flinch and nearly drop her phone. Her eyes steadily watched the seconds count upwards on her computer screen.

_55_

_“Oh my God—"_

_56_

_"Where did the time go—"_

_57_

Yuri raised a brow, chuckling at Minjoo's panic.

_58_

_“Why didn’t you tell me—"_

_59_

“Why are you blaming me—"

_00_

As the clock turned from 12/31/2020 to 1/1/2021, a large (faded) crackle came from the other line. Yuri pulled her phone away with a wince, her mind trying to guess the source of the crackle. Was that the supposed JYPE fireworks? Minjoo was acquainted with Stray Kids Hyunjin, and friends with Ryujin as well. If Ryujin invited Minjoo too, why didn’t she invite _her_ —

_“Happy New Year!”_

She recognized the cheery cry of her roommate, and then a familiar chorus of voices that echoed the same sentiments and immediately relaxed. Minjoo did mention she was going to be with the others tonight.

_“Happy New Year, Yul.”_

Minjoo’s voice brought her back to reality, and she turned her attention to her.

_“I was the first, right?”_

Oh. Of course, she was going to mention something like that.

She snorted, “We haven’t even hung up yet, of _course_ you’re going to be the first.”

_“Good! I wanted to wish you a Happy New Year first. I had my voice message ready and everything.”_

The image of Minjoo grinning with her shoulders raised in victory, brought a smile to her face. Yet, she shook her head with a sigh and exasperation. “You really were determined to beat Hyewon-unnie.”

 _"And I did."_ Minjoo was proud, Yuri could easily tell. She shook her head, Hyewon was probably expecting Yuri to message her _first_ , but she let Minjoo have her little victory. Ignorance was bliss sometimes after all.

"Happy New Year, Min."

_And to the many more New Years they had ahead of them._

* * *

**[IZONE** **❤️** **]**

**sakura:** someone who’s not in the dorm right now, can you bring back soup

 **sakura:** because help me god, i didn’t know it was possible to _burn_ soup.

 **chaeyeon:** you guys did _what—_

 **chaeyeon:** saku-chan, i entrusted all the parental controls to you, what were _you_ doing?

 **sakura:** …

 **nako:** games.

 **yujin:** i almost won too 😔

 **hyewon:** sucks to _suck_

 **chaeyeon:** language.

 **hyewon:** sorry honey.

 **yuri:** ???

 **yuri:** ??? hello??? kwangbae??? i thought we had something.

 **hyewon:** ?

 **hyewon:** you cheated on me first

 **hyewon:** with your co-worker, on christmas.

 **yuri:** i did not—she followed me home!

 **nako:** not here too, when will i escape this

 **nako:** and you said you wanted to be with me, yuri, i can’t believe 😔

 **hyewon:** and then you didn’t even message me a happy new year.

 **yuri:** _wait_ —

 **minjoo:** 😊

 **chaewon:** why has no one in our chat wished happy new year lol.

 **yujin:** eunbi-unnie is probably sleeping like the oldie she is lol.

 **yujin:** but quick, fill the conversation with memes so she doesn’t see that i called her old again, the dorm nearly got set on fire, and we talked about divorces and break-ups _again_ on New Years.

 **yena:** DID SOMEONE SAY MEMES?

 **yena:** also, happy new year lol.

**eunbi:** happy new year, kids. **❤️**

 **eunbi:** thank you for all your hard work this year too. we’ve gone through a period of uncertainty and change, but we wouldn’t be here today without each and everyone of us. 

**eunbi:** from the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything. i love you all.

 **eunbi:** and by the way, i scrolled up past the pictures of animals and weird things you all sent.

 **eunbi:** i will be talking to each and everyone of you involved with almost burning the dorm down, those who are still arguing about their relationships, and yujin.

 **eunbi:** that’s all.

 **eunbi:** love you ❤️

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: no dorms or buildings were burnt down in the process
> 
> happy new year / happy holidays! stay safe and let's have a good 2021! 
> 
> thank you for all the support, love, kudos, and comments throughout the year, not just in 2020 but since i've started my descent into writing here. i wouldn't have able to make it this far without you guys :) give lots of love and support to the girls too :) and remember to yourself as well! taking care of yourself is also important. thank you once again and please look forward to my next update.


End file.
